Mexico City Travel Guide

Grand Prix 2014

This guide is written to make your stay in Mexico City, easier. We tried our best to put

everything you could need while visiting a foreign country. We hope you enjoy your stay in our country.

Tournament Info can be found at : http://gpmexico.mx/ (the official page of the GP-México)

If you have any question, please contact us: omargonzalez180989@gmail.com (Omar González)

Index:

1) Travel and Accomodation (GP Venue and accommodation)

2) Public Transport

3) Places of Touristic Interest, plus Night Life and Meal

4) México City Magic Stores

5) Local Laws to take in consideration when travelling to

México

6) Maps and info.

Travel and Accomodation

Getting to México City.

The México City has an International Airport known as “Benito Juaréz International

Airport” or “Mexico City International Airport”.

Due the growth of the city, the airport is inside the city, (unlike other airports) which

makes it easy to move from the airport to any place in the city. (It has a main avenue and

a Metro Station in the nearby)

That leads you to having three main options to reach the Event Venue or the Judge

Hotel.

The First one is taking a cab inside the Airport (for security reasons, is forbidden to take a

cab outside the airport)

You paid the cab in advance and then head to the “taxi site” where you are assigned to

one of the “Taxis”. Both directions (venue and hotel) are near of the “Paseo de la

Reforma” street. A good advice is to tell the driver to go to the “Glorieta de Colon”, from

that point is just two steps in one of two directions (The Glorieta is right at the center of

both places). This option will cost you between 15-20 dls. (Around 180–250 pesos)

The second option (less recommendable because you will be carrying your luggage) is to

take the “Metro” (México’s City Subway).

Near the Airport Terminal 1, is the entrance to the Metro station “Terminal Aerea”.wich is

a station of the Metro Line 5 (in a bright color Yellow)

Starting at “Terminal Aera” you must head to “La Raza” which is 8 stations away, going to

“Politecnico”. Once there, you must change lines to take the Metro Line 3 (which has a

soft green color).

From here you only need to go to “Juarez” 5 stations going to “Universidad”

Once there, at Metro Juarez you get outside the station and walk two streets south, turn

right at “Morelos Street” then head west 4 streets, there you will be at Expo Reforma (the

venue of the GP).

GRAN PRIX VENUE

The Grand Prix will take place at “Expo

Reforma” a building for expos and

conventions.

The building is at “Morelos #67. Colonia

Juarez”.

At the following pages, you will find a visual guide to help you travel from the Airport to

the Judge Hotel or the GP Venue.

Going from “Terminal Aerea” head to “La Raza”

Metro Station “Terminal Aerea” (Letter A) / Taxi Base. (RED POINT) Maps: http://goo.gl/maps/6qeEm

Go from “Terminal Aerea” to “Juarez”

Subway Lines that you will take to move from the Airport to the nearest subway station of the GP Venue.

Hotel

There are many options near the GP Venue, with prices that goes from 70 dls per night to

100 dls per night.

A)Hotel Manalba

This hotel is at 2 blocks away from the GP

Venue, just crossing “Reforma Avenue” Contact Page:

http://www.hotelmanalba.com.mx/hotel-mexico-

city.php

Maps Route from the GP Venue https://goo.gl/maps/u31iV

B)Hotel Sevilla Palace

This hotel is at 2 blocks away from the GP Venue, just crossing

“Reforma Avenue”. The cheapest room cost 75 dls between two

persons. Also its one of the few

hotel at this location with a

swimming pool. Contact Page:

http://www.sevillapalace.com.mx/home

Maps Route from the GP Venue

https://goo.gl/maps/FrpY1

C)Hotel Imperial

This hotel is beside the GP Venue. It’s the closest hotel you

could get (just 200 meters/220 yards)

Prices go between 75 dls to 200 dls. Contact Page:

http://www.hotelimperial.mx/english/index.html

Maps Route from the GP Venue

https://goo.gl/maps/GFkZv

D) Hotel Fiesta Americana ”Reforma”

From the Family of Fiesta Americana

hotels, this one is in the Reforma

Avenue making it an hotel with a lot

of people coming and going.

The prices go between 84 dls up to

134 dls per night. Contact Page:

http://www.fiestamericana.com/mexico-

city/hotel-reforma/overview

Maps Route from the GP Venue

https://goo.gl/maps/6W6KR

E)Downtown México and Downtown Beds

This Hotel and Motel is host in an Colonial

building that was readapted to work as an

hotel and luxury stores. Is far from the GP

Venue (2 km, 1.3 miles) but is very close

to the center of the city (the Old

Downtown)

The Downtown hold the hotel, and the

Beds that is actually and “Hostal”.

The advantages of this Hostal is that is in

the same place as the Hotel, so every service is held in both sides (Hotel and Hostal)

The prices for the hotel, are near 150 dls per night and the prices of the Hostal are 40 dls

per night in a room of 4.

Is a good option if you are planning to be in the city more time, than the GP time. Contact Page: http://www.downtownmexico.com/main.html

Contact Page: http://www.downtownbeds.com/main.html

Maps Route from the GP Venue: https://goo.gl/maps/kU3l9

Public Transport

Because México City is so huge, the city has between 4-7 types of public

transportation. Unless you get outside of the city, the following 4 will be enough for you.

A) METRO (subway)

This one is the cheapest of all, for only 5 pesos (between half a dollar

or a quarter dollar depending the change rate), you can get in and

travel across the 12 routes with more than a hundred stations across

all the City.

Some of routes are below ground, others are at street level and

others are above ground.

The problem with using the metro, is that at some hours it gets very

crowed

On must of the stations you can bought a plastic card, that will hol d your cash for this

transport.

This card can be used in some others transports.

B) Metrobus.

This transport, like the Metro is very cheap: 6 pesos (once again half

a dollar).

It has 5 routes all at street level. The “Bus” goes over 5 of the main

avenues of the city so is a easy way to move across the city.

Its main downside is that at some stations get very crowded so you

will have to wait 2 or more buses so you could get on one.

Of the 5 Metrobuses routes, the one who goes to the airport has an

additional fee after passing a point of the route; the rest all have the

same cost.

For this two metods of transportation there are two

applications that could be helpful one is for Android

and the other one is for iOS

Android:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.me

tromexico&hl=es_419

iOS

https://itunes.apple.com/mx/app/metro-bus-mexico/id361426950?mt=8

Front of the two versions of the Plastic Card you can use in both “Metro” and “Metrobus”

C) Taxi (cab)

The taxis at México City have a particular color: The

bottom is red and the top is golden.

Across the city you will see many Taxis but is

important that you know that there are 3 types of

taxi’s each one with a particular fee.

- “Taxi Libre”: This one has a initial cost

(Banderazo) of 8.80 pesos (almost a dollar) and

each 45 seconds or 250 meters (850 feets) you add

1 peso (less than a dime).

The “taxi Libre” can be taken at any place over the street always at the right side of the

road direction.

-“Taxi de Sitio” (Base cab): this one has a initial fee of 13.10 pesos (a dollar) and each 45

seconds you add 1.30 pesos (a dime). This taxis are taken at a taxi base. You could spot

them because you will see a line of “taxis” parking at the front of a Building or Commercial

center. You will have to take the Taxi at the front of the line.

-“Radio Taxi”. The only way to take a Radio taxi is by making a call to a phone number of

some taxi site. The main advantage of this type of taxis is that they will go to where you

are. The disadvantage is that this has the biggest fee of all 28 pesos (between two and two

and a half dollars), and after the same time lapse of the others you will be charged 2.60

pesos (2 dimes). If you want to take one of this cabs, ask at the concierge of your hotel for

a phone number.

Also, before you get into a cab, see at your cellphone the route that you will be making.

Some drivers (especially the ones of the “Taxi Libre”) will try to take advantage of the fact

that you don’t know the city.

d)Autobuses RTP

This “bus” has many routes, and each one has a specific

fee. We are going to focus on one; the route called

“Balderas-Santa Fe route”, because is the one we should

take in order to go to the zone of Chapultepec and others

like that.

This route goes across “Paseo de la Reforma” that is at 20

meters from the Judge Hotel and Expo Reforma.

Places of Touristic Interest, Meal, and Night Life

One of the advantages of the position of the Judge Hotel and the Tournament Venue, is

that there is a lot of places to go around.

From Iconic places (like the Palacio of Bellas Artes) to Bars and Restaurants, there’s plenty

of things to do at the City.

Along each one of these descriptions you will find the Wikipedia page and the Google

Maps.

a) Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts)

This Building was started at the year of 1910 and was

completed in 1934. The fact that this building was started by

one architect and ended by another, makes that the building

has some interesting fusion of architectural styles. The

building holds 2 museums and one theater.

Near is the Alameda Park. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_de_Bellas_Artes

http://goo.gl/maps/CIIxP

b) Zócalo-Plaza de la Constitución (Zócalo)

The Constitution Square, mainly know as Zócalo is one of

the places you must go when coming to México City.

From here you can see the “Metropolitan Cathedral”,

where you could take a tour across the tower bells and the

roof. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%B3calo

http://goo.gl/maps/tvyGC

c) Castillo de Chapultepec (Chapultepec Castle)

The Chapultepec Castle was at some point a Military

Training Center, after that it became the home of

Maximiliano of Habsburgo during the brief French

intervention, and after that became the home of Porfirio

Diaz, one of the presidents of México. Because all the

changes that the castle has lived, is a place where you could

learn a lot of México history. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_de_Chapultepec

http://goo.gl/maps/z08am

d) Paseo de la Reforma/Chapultepec

At Paseo de la Reforma there’s a collection of

Museums such as “Museo de Antropologia e

Historia” (Anthropology and History Museum),

“Museo de Arte Moderno” (Modern Art Museum),

“Museo Rufino Tamayo de Arte Contemporaneo”

(Rufino Tamayo Museum of Contemporary Art).

Here you can also find the Chapultepec Zoo.

http://goo.gl/maps/Mgmtb

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Rufino_Tamayo,_Mexico_City

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapultepec_Zoo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_de_Arte_Moderno

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museo_Nacional_de_Antropolog%C3%ADa

E) Monumento a la Revolución.( Monument to the Revolution)

This “building”, is a combination between museum,

café and overlook.

Here are buried 4 of the persons that where part of the

Mexican Revolution.

Is a good place to learn about Mexico History of Early

XX century.

Also is very near GP Venu

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumento_a_la_Revoluci%C3%B3

n

https://goo.gl/maps/1ZlMC

F) Teotihuacán

The pyramids of Teotihuacán are one of the

most beautiful places you could visit when coming to

México.

The history and heritage of the place is astounding.

Many hotels handle shuttles to the Ruins, so it

shouldn’t be hard to go. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan

Food

Like every mayor city in the world, México City, has all the classic Fast Food/ Restaurants.

(P.F. Changs, KFC, Starbucks, Mc. Donalds, Pizza Hut, Domino’s, etc), but an important

thing of going to a foreign country is eating some of the local food.

a) Sanborns (Restaurant, bar, soda fountain)

One of the oldest (if not the oldest) franchise of

Food and Department Store in México.

His first store is know as “Casa de los Azulejos”

or “Sanborns de los Azulejos”, because of the

Azulejos all over the Facade.

At the restaurant the Menu has a variety of

dishes of the vast Mexican Gastronomy and

some of the world gastronomy.

From the “Enchiladas Sanborns”(tortilla, cream,

green sauce, and cheese) to the “Pepitos” (Baguette, meat, beans and French Fries),

Sanborns has a lot to offer.

Beside this Sanborns, there’s almost a hundred of restaurants across the city.

Price: from 150 pesos to 250 pesos (12 dls, to 20 dls) http://goo.gl/maps/xcmdl

b) Tacos.

It doesn’t matter if you eat them at a restaurant or if you eat them on a “puesto” on the

street, eating a real Taco (not a Taco Bell fake taco) is a must.

Just have caution at the moment of eating them whit sauce,

normally they are spicy.

Prices should be between 12 pesos to 70 pesos each one (1 dls

up to 5 dls), depending mainly in 3 things.

The place where you bought the taco, the kind of taco you

order and the zone.

c)Tamales.

The Tamales are a dish that began with the mayan culture, and

have evolved since then across all country.

Each state has they own kind of tamale, but the common one is

the one that you could eat at the City.

Its made of “Masa” (a dough made from corn) and some lard or

vegetable shortening, filled whit ,many kind of ingredients, from chiken whit green sauce,

to pineapple and raisins.

Almost at every corner of the city, you cand find a “Carrito de tamales” that is a bike

adapted to hold a metal case at the front where they hold the container of the tamales.

The cost goes from 14 pesos to 20 pesos (from 1 dls to 1.5 dls).

The tamale can be eaten whit a spoon (normaly they give you a plastic spoon) because is

to soft. Other way to eat it, is to ask your tamale in a “Guajolota”, which is a Tamale

between two slices of a “bolillo” that is a bread that resembles a lot the flavor and

consistency of the French baguette. (in other word a “Torta of Tamale”)

Night Life

At the Center of the city exist a group of 3 zones that have a lot of bars and clubs to

party all night.

a) Zona Rosa: At a distance of 500 meters at the most starts the “Zona Rosa” a group of 4-

5 blocks. The prices of the beverages are slightly above average, but the Zona Rosa is a

place for the LGBT community.

b) Condesa: The Condesa started as a worker colony, that slowly evolved into a urban

zone that could be treated as a “hipster zone”. The bars and the clubs are heavy priced (50

dls at the least)

c) Polanco: The most expensive zone of all. (70 dls at the least). The clubs are kind of

exclusive.

At the end of this guide there’s a map that will show you, starting from the judge hotel,

where each one of this zones is.

Magic Stores

México City has so many awesome Magic Stores, that it would be hard to visit all of

them, so here is a short list of the stores that are closer to the area you are going to be, or

that have an easy access (transportation)

a) Shivan Shop.

The closest store to the Judge hotel and event Venue.

Sells a lot of single cards and accessories and has started to sell some book

and comics.

The store is at “Puente de Alvarado #42” First Floor. 3rd Store. It’s not a Plaza

is a Office Building with some adaptations to hold a wide range of stores and shops.

The only problem with the store is that at night (like 9 pm), is not very safe to be walking

alone at the zone. Here’s the route from the Judge Hotel.

http://goo.gl/maps/4O3ds

https://www.facebook.com/Shivanonline?fref=ts (Facebook page)

b) Gamesmart

This store has a wide range of board games, and accessories for almost

every trading card game that is actually on the market.

The store is 7 km away, but using the public transportation you could be

there in no time. You only have to walk to “Av. Insurgentes” and there

take the “Metrobus” station “Reforma” or “Hamburgo”. Then head to

“Feliz Cuevas”. Once there, is only 20 minutes and you will get to the store.

The store is at “Avenida Insurgentes Sur #1391” First Floor. Second store coming out from

the elevators.

The name of the plaza where the store is, is “Plaza Armand” Here’s the route from the Judge Hotel.

http://goo.gl/maps/snnmz

https://www.facebook.com/gabo.queipo?fref=ts (Facebook page)

c)Delta Scion of the Souls

This store is at the south of the city, but using the “Metro” you can get there in almost half an hour. The store is behind the UNAM (National Autonomous University of Mexico) so it has players at all times of the day, mostly students. Here they also have some Videogames, so you could come and challenge

them to a Mario Kart game.

To get to the store you will have to walk to Metro “Hidalgo” from there, take the Line Number 3 (green one) to Metro “Universidad” (which happens to be the end of line). Once at Universidad, walking out, you will see a “mural”, from here, go to your left all the way to the bottom stair. Keep going on, until you get to the wall at the other street. The store is between a Computer Store and a party consumables store (plates, party hats, candyes, etc). At the middle of both stores, there’s a black door. Inside the door go up the stairs and you will be there. Here’s the route from the Judge Hotel. http://goo.gl/maps/fkYXz (Map from the hotel to the Metro) http://goo.gl/maps/mG94r (Map from the Metro to the Store, the store at “Street View” is the one whit the “Plotter Canvas” https://www.facebook.com/deltascionofthesouls?fref=ts (facebook page) d) Imp Hobbies The store where the Judge Conference will be held. This store is also close to the UNAM but just at the other side(the UNAM is also know as

“Universitary city” because of the size of its campus) They sell mostly two things, Magic and Warhammer miniatures, along Roleplaying guides and books. To get to the store you have two options. One is using the Metro and the other one is use the Metrobus. The Metro is quicker (something like 20-30 minutes) but using the

Metrobus, will let you see a part of the city and the many things that are in here. By Metro: You will have to take Metro “Hidalgo” and then head to Metro “Copilco” (one station prior to Metro “Universidad), once at Copilco, you will only have to walk 10 minutes, going to “Avenida Universidad” . At Universidad, you will see a Walmart and crossing the street will be the Store. By Metrobus: You will have to take the Metrobus and head to Metro Dr. Galvez (south). Once at Dr Galvez, you will have to take 8 minutes to the east and you will be there. http://goo.gl/maps/fkYXz (Map to the Metro) http://goo.gl/maps/aABy8 (Map from Metro to the Store) http://goo.gl/maps/80stu (Map from the Hotel to the Store using Metrobus)

Local Laws to take in consideration when travelling to México

-First of all, there’s a strict policy about smoking at public places. Almost all public

buildings have a designated space allowing people to smoke. This place could be inside an

open space of the building (a roof or a garden), or at 20 meters (21 yards) of the building

entrance.

-Tipping is optional (Mexican Law, doesn’t enforce tipping at restaurants or at any service)

-In recent years, the use of Dollars, as a form of payment has been denied. At all services,

you must pay using Pesos. Be sure to get some change at the Airport. (1us dollar = 13.20

pesos)

-At 18 years, one is treated as an Adult. So, alcohol, cigars, and shows of mature content

are strictly forbidden for under aged. Keep in mind having your ID with you at all time, so

you could verify your age.

-It is forbidden to consume alcoholic beverages in public areas (street, parks, and

commercial centers).

-Also is strictly forbidden at any place to consume drugs. If you need any type of

medication, you must bring a medical prescription in order to buy it.

-There’s no need of carrying your passport or Visa, when moving across México, between

states.

MAPS

Metro Lines. A) “Metro Terminal Aerea” B) Metro La Raza C) Metro Juarez D) Metro Hidalgo E) Metro Copilco F) Metro Universidad

A

B

a

CD

E

F

Map

s

Metrobus Lines A) Metrobus Reforma B) Metrobus Hamburgo C) Metrobus Felix Cuevas D) Metrobus Dr Galvez

AB

C

D

Aditional Information

You can find more information about Mexico City at the next Wikia:

http://wikitravel.org/en/Mexico_City

Night Life Zones: A) Judge Hotel B) Zona Rosa C) Condesa D) Polanco.